This weeks cheese choice was Mitica Cabrales, a mix of cows and sheep milk cheese from Spain. From my research it was to be a very strong blue cheese. I looked up potential wines to pair with it and the recommendations were either a Sherry or a Sauterne. I decided to go with a Alvear Pedro Ximenez sherry. This sherry is made with sun dried Pedro Ximenez grapes. It is very sweet.
The cheese was unbelievably strong, salty and pungent. I thought that if it was paired with the sweet wine that the strong taste would balance out. It did not, the cheese just stood out with a almost acrid taste. The sherry was almost too sweet. I also put some Kumquat preserves on it and that still did not balance the taste. I really can not recommend the cheese.
I also made it into a tart with figs that were macerated in the sherry. I filled the tart shell with the figs and topped it with the cheese and it was still overwhelming. I made the tart shell with David Lebovitz’s method of making the pastry with melted butter. It really turned out nice.
